Tim Thomas took to his favorite means of communication Sunday morning to expand upon his decision to not fulfill the final year of his $5-million-per-year contract with the Bruins and sit out the 2012-13 season.

Thomas’ official Facebook page featured the following statement from the All-Star goaltender:

From the earliest age I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a hockey player. I’ve been blessed in my life to not only be able to live that dream, but to achieve more than I ever thought possible.

The singleminded (sic) focus that is necessary to accomplish a dream of this magnitude entails (by necessity) sacrifice in other areas and relationships in life.

At the age of 38, I believe it is time to put my time and energies into those areas and relationships that I have neglected. That is why at this time I feel the most important thing I can do in my life is to reconnect with the three F’s.

Friends, Family, and Faith.

This is what I plan on doing over the course of the next year.

The statement then continues with plugs for a couple of Thomas’ workout products, which I won’t re-post here without getting a cut. Guess you can add a ‘C’ (capitalism) to Thomas’ three Fs.

Thomas decided to not acknowledge the strain he’ll be putting on the Bruins’ salary cap ($5 million) next season. Nor does he acknowledge his teammates who were counting on him to help the Bruins return to championship form.

If this is the last we hear from Tim Thomas, he has certainly written himself an odd legacy that no one could’ve predicted at this time one year ago.

Okay, so I may be too sympathetic on this one and chances are that I will get blasted for this, but for whatever reason Tim has to take the year off I’m sure that it is well justified and that it was a difficult decision for him to make. I believe that Tim has strong family values and his road to the NHL says plenty about his character.

To say that Tim ‘owes the team’ may have some truth to it (given the fact that it was the Bruins’ organization that believed in him and gave him opportunity), and yes – he has obligations and commitments to his teammates, but in life family comes first. Unfortunately most of us will never know the full story, nor will we ever be able to put ourselves in his situation and have the financial freedom to take a year off from our job. Over the past 15-20 years I’m sure that Tim has made plenty of sacrifices in his personal life in order to pursue his dreams.

What I think is unfortunate, however, is in the manner in which he communicated his decision: a Facebook post. It’s a shame that it may end this way for Tim. His story is inspiring, and his legacy could be remembered by a controversial decision to leave the team – versus what’s what’s been an impressive career. It’s easy for us to sit on the side-lines and speculate, but who knows the truth of the matter. Who knows – Tim could be the model “family man” and good Samaritan. But then again, he could be a crazy, self-centered, back-stabbing, selfish individual.

Whatever the case, thanks for the memories Tim. All the best to you and your family.

He turned his back on his team, his organization and then spouted that he needs to focus on the 3 Fs? For F’s sake, most of us are 40/hr a week guys or more. These guys train, which is a healthy thing to do anyway and play a few hours a week. AND they get paid millions to do it. It’s supposed to be a privilege to be paid exorbitantly to play a kids game.

Tim and the club have been at odds since he gave the old middle fingered salute to his president and this was his way to completely screw over the club. On the ice, they don’t have a signed #1 goaltender. Now they have to pay Tukka more money because his agent is no fool.

Furthermore, NOBODY is going to pick up Thomas’ contract. He’s a PR disaster and he doesn’t even want to play. Might as well fill up to the cap minimum with a toxic contract willing to play. No owner wants to get nothing in return for something.

Something is wrong with Thomas. Either something has cracked between the ears with this guy or there’s a whole separate issue going on here affecting his ability to play. He hasn’t exactly been forthcoming to the media so you might as well speculate.

One of the rumours on another site stated, that a few years ago when the bruins were looking to trade Thomas and he had to waive his no trade clause, he stated that he wanted to stay on the east coast due to a family member being sick and wanted to stay near the top medical facilities. Maybe this has something to do with his decision. But why would he buy a house in Colorado then? Does Colorado have a top medical facility? Again, this was a rumour on another site.

‘Tis funny how this all works out. Tuukka (while deserving) is in line for some decent money as the number 1 netminder and, as brought up by a couple people, has effectively put a NTC back in his pocket unless someone is willing to take on the cap hit for financial reasons.

I think I’m the only person who thinks this situation could work out. Thomas hasn’t retired, so there is a chance a team will take his contract to get to the salary floor especially if it goes up like the cap is projected to. On top of that now Tuukka knows he is going to be the starter now and probably feels better about his contract talks. Lastly, there is always the chance the new CBA has different cap rules for this situation.

Timmy calls his own shot and leaves Tukka with plenty of time to get use to being no.1. Personally I think the way sports figures are traded as commodities these days, it is refreshing to see one have plans that speak beyond just making the most money. Good luck Tim in what ever your plans are and thanks for the cup!!! which so many seem to have forgotten already.

Timmy is no dummy. After July 1st he has no say where he goes. Doing it his way, he does have a say. If he agrees to come back, (to a team he will play for) his worth goes up. So he gets a say in where he goes, if he feels he will be traded. So all those so called Bruin fans asking to have him traded may have influenced this action. Of course, it may be much simpler, unlike many professional athletes – Tim may not place the maximum salary as no. 1 reason he plays when & where he does. He may feel he has earned sufficient money playing hockey and is ready to move on to something more important in life. Consider that as opposed to some fan comments 1st saying he was not worth $5 million a year and now complaining he won’t take the money.

Let me understand this. Our favorite team wins the Cup finally (a first in many of our lives), they look strong but lose a bad series the next year and the star goalie flakes. ABSURD. Somehow this seems like a crazy dream that should only be fit for Chicago Cubs fans.

Naturally Timmy could change his mind midseason, but from this fan’s perspective, that’s way too late in the game.

Even though he still needs a deal, Boston is committed to Tuukka, and vice versa; as far as I see it, this is basically just expediting the succession plan by a year. Rask is ready to be a #1, I personally think he’s a franchise goalie.

It wouldn’t be very fair to Tuukka, or the rest of the team to just say “Aww, c’mon back Tim, even though you bailed on your teammates here’s your job back.”

Much better to cut our losses, accept this situation that nobody wanted, and move forward; we’re very lucky to have the goalie depth that we do. PC may find a trade partner, too – I trust he’ll explore those options thoroughly.

As Rex mentioned in that Herald article:

“The mental part is just as important as the physical part,” he said. “You’ve got to be mentally ready to commit yourself to your teammates and the coaching staff. You have to be 100 percent committed to being successful every day.”

Timmy’s not there, there were times last year where he didn’t have his typical focus, and stringing this process along is just going to destabilize the dressing room through media speculation (If it was bad before, think what it would be now), perceived favoritism/entitlement, etc.

Closure for this situation is going to be very important for team morale – time to redefine a few roles in Boston.

If Tukka fails try Anton, not Tim. As well, Tukka has already proven he’s starter. Tukka has not shown the level of play Tim had last year in the playoffs, but that may come in the future. I think Tim’s play is going the other direction; he didn’t look good in the playoffs.

Did anyone ever think that Timmy might get tired of taking the year off, decide to come back by Christmas and be ready to go by February?…Athletes sometimes just need the pressure off and when they totally relax, revert back to their competitive nature and eventually want to return real badly, real soon. A case in point: Mark Recchi. See Stephen Harris’s article in today’s Boston Herald. Rex would have come back if Pete asked him. And if Tuukka fails as a starter, you ALL will be clamoring for his return…survey or no survey!

Taking to facebook to announce your intentions? What’s with that? If he had one ounce of respect for the Bruins he would have at least faced the media. I think he was a little fearful of answering the obvious question about how this cap hit is going to affect the B’s next season. Tim, unfortunately has moved a long away from being a “team” guy with the Bruins. I have to believe his actions of late are an attempt by him to gain some control over the situation, even at a cost of 5,000,000. To say your fatigued at this time, but say that you might want to come back and play for the Olympics next year is a little mind-boggling. It does leave PC in a bind because he now has to sign Tukka, and at best he will only sign either Kelly or Campell. I don’t know if Spooner is ready. Supposedly some felt he would have made the fourth line on the Canadian junior team, but no better. I guess Peverly or Seguin may be moved back to centre.

I can’t believe what TT has just done to this team. He leaves and the cap hit stays. There’s no chance in trading him with all of his craziness. Tuuka’s agent has huge leverage now on the upcoming contract negotiations. I appriciate what he has done for the team in the past but he has royally screwed PC.

The NTC expires July 1st, so he wouldn’t have to approve the trade. I suppose if the other team was serious about him playing in 13/14 they would need to discuss that before a trade, but I’m sure no team would want to bank on him playing again.

You’re right, TT doesn’t really have any value, but that’s why PC would have to add a pick/prospect, and maybe a bit of cash – so the other team had an incentive to add Thomas, even though he won’t play for them. Basically paying them to do us a favor, and put him on their cap ledger. They would just suspend him when he sits out, and would hold the option for the following year (like we do), so acquiring TT wouldn’t cost them any cash out of their pocket – they’d be making money/acquiring an asset (the prospect).

In turn they would send us a future consideration – a la Sturmy – meaning we actually get nothing in return, other than cap relief.

I’m not sure what that type of cap relief would be worth on the market, or other teams willingness to take on that hit though.

Some people might disagree with the idea of trading a prospect/pick for 5M in cap relief, but if there’s a team with lots of cap space and few prospects (both in terms of team success, or literally, in terms of players in the system)and they’re interested, it would be nice to see PC get aggressive. It’s possible – although not probable – that a deal could still get done.

Our team is young, but still effectively built to win right now, and it would be great if ownership/management supported investing in this loss, in order to create flexibility to improve the club in the short term.

Rollie
Agree save for the part about the no trade. TTs value is nil unless he agrees to come back and play. Hence, he once again has a say in where he goes, if he wants to play again. Plus, his is a $3 million salary but a $5 mil cap hit, so any team that does trade for him is looking at the potential at taking on a $5 mil cap hit for nothing in return. That’s good, as you said, for a cap floor team, but not too attractive for anyone else…

The fact of the matter is that this situation blows, but it isn’t happening because Timmy’s NTC is coming up – Chiarelli already stated during the exit process that he was amped to have the dynamic duo in net for another year, that it was the plan.

Thomas should probably just retire – he was never going to make the US team in 2014 anyway, with Quick/Schneider/Miller as a starting point. Not at age 40.

In the end, like he mentioned, maybe PC will be able to deal Thomas to a team that needs to come up to meet the salary cap floor. Package some combination of a prospect & maybe a bit of cash (unlikely) + Timmy, for a future consideration – a la Marco Sturm, and move that cap hit. TT only has 3M left, some team might even find it intriguing for 13/14 (although they would have to be a bit stupid to accept that. Let’s give Columbus a call).

Seriously… 1M in cash, TT, and a prospect or pick… not totally impossible. Team will just suspend him, add him to the ledger, get a bit of cash and a prospect. Win/win… right?

Anyway in the fairly unlikely situation that we clear that cap, we’ll be able to add another quality player up front – which we need to do anyway, given all the uncertainty with Horts.

Silver lining in all of this is that Tuukka is ready to be a franchise goalie – he may already be better than TT at this point. Khudobin is also a quality prospect, and in the last year of his contract – now he’s going to get a chance to prove he deserves an extension; at least this way the B’s will know a little bit more about what they’ve got with AK, before it’s time to deal.

Ok, so he’s now playing the family card. But yet, he’s only gonna do it for a year? But then it’s back to those single-minded sacrifices to go back to living his dream? Why not just retire ? Why screw over the organization that’s bent over backwards to accommodate you? Anyone else think his loss of no-trade rights has anything to do with this?

Hate to break this to you Tim, but absence will not make the heart grow fonder for a 39 year old goalie with a history of being a pain in the butt. I know he just moved to Colorado but, if I were the B’s, I’d ship his ass to Winnipeg and move on…